THE DEVIL COLONY

It seemed meaningless at first-until Painter pondered it more, especially in light of the conversation he had had with Rafael Saint Germaine. The Frenchman had mentioned that the Guild was really a group of ancient families who had been accumulating wealth, power, and knowledge over centuries-possibly millennia-until in modern times only one family remained. His story closely matched Lewis's tale of the purging of America, in which one family turned out to be rooted too deeply to remove, with ties to slavers rich beyond measure.

Were these two stories speaking of the same family?

Ghent.

Again, Painter might not have attributed much to this code breaking, except for one nagging coincidence. Ghent was a city in Belgium . That country had kept popping up of late: the team who attacked Gray in Iceland had come from there, as had that smaller burst of neutrinos similar to those at Fort Knox.

So Painter had kept on digging. Ghent was a common surname for people from that city. Someone was John of Ghent or Paul of Ghent . But in more modern times you became simply John Ghent or Paul Ghent . And sometimes just the anglicized pronunciation was used, as it was easier to spell phonetically.

And that's where Painter found the truth-or so he believed.

Not that he could do anything about it.

He stepped farther back from the painting, taking in its entirety. He studied the figures of Jefferson and Franklin, picturing them standing before this same painting, faced with the same challenge and threat. His own hands were tied as surely as the Founding Fathers' had been.

During Painter's research concerning the suspected family, he had discovered that they indeed had roots going back to Ghent, had even used that name before extending their reach to America. They'd been in the colonies at the beginning, entrenched in the slave trade to such an extent that any attempt to remove that single family by force could have ripped the new union apart.

They were the weed in the garden that could not be pulled.

And they still were today.

As America grew, so did this family, rooting and entwining into multiple industries, corporations, and yes, even in the halls of government. They were a thread woven throughout the fabric of this country.

So was it any wonder that Sigma could make no headway against them?

Rafael had said this ancient group of families- the secret in secret societies -went by many names, whispers that were only shadows: the Guild, Echelon, familles de l' toile, the star families. But Painter knew the true name of the enemy-then and now-anglicized for the American tongue.

They were the Kennedys of the South.

But no longer were they called Ghent .

Now they were called Gant .

As in President James T. Gant.

Author's Note to Readers: Truth or Fiction

While I'd like to say this entire story is true, that would, of course, be fiction . So for these last few pages, I thought I'd separate the wheat from the chaff, the truth from the fiction. The three big- ticket items that became the foundation for this book concern Mormonism, early Native Americans, and our Founding Fathers. As you might imagine after reading this novel, these topics do intertwine. But I'll try to break them down as clearly as I can:

Mormonism. While I was raised Roman Catholic, I've always been fascinated by the Book of Mormon, especially by its take on early America. The specific mystery at the heart of this text is the Mormon belief that Native American clans originated from a fleeing lost tribe of Israelites. While modern DNA emphatically disputes this, pointing to an Asiatic origin for early American natives, I read a fascinating paper that can be found online, a paper that balances Mormon belief with modern genetic science: 'Who Are the Children of Lehi?' by D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens.

In this book I also broach the commonality between Hebrew and Native American languages (specifically Uto- Aztecan). If you'd like to know more (I only mention a few examples in the book, but there are hundreds), check out the article that can be found online: 'Was There Hebrew Language in Ancient America?' by John L. Sorenson.

According to the Book of Mormon, John Smith translated the text from a collection of gold plates written in a language called 'reformed Egyptian,' an advanced form of Hebrew with elements of Egyptian. I borrowed a language from the Middle Ages, named the Alphabet of the Magi, to stand in for that script, as the Magi Alphabet was also derived from Hebrew. Also caches of strange metallic plates-golden and otherwise-have been discovered throughout the Americas. Most are hoaxes, but some come with some substantial provenance. I'll leave their veracity up to you to decide.

Native American History. Segueing into this topic, I should mention that there was much friction between Mormon settlers and Native Americans in the mid-1800s, including massacres and wars. But the Northwestern Band of Shoshone of Brigham City is known for being a Mormon Indian tribe.

1. Chief Canasatego is a real Iroquois leader who had a profound impact on the founding of America. Many people do believe him to be a lost Founding Father. The story related about the arrows and Franklin and how it led to the bundle of arrows in our national Great Seal is true.

2. As is Resolution 331 , passed in October of 1988, which acknowledges the influence that the Iroquois constitution had upon our own founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence.

3. For example, in 1787, John Rutledge of South Carolina read to members of the Constitution Convention from Iroquois law, words written 250 years before our constitution. Here are those words he read: 'We, the people, to form a union, to establish peace, equity, and order...' Sound familiar?

4. Caucasoid remains from ancient America have been discovered in various regions of the United States and baffle anthropologists. A few of those are: Kennewick Man, Spirit Cave Mummy of Nevada, Oregon's Prospect Man, and Arlington Springs Woman. And there are many more.

5. Some of the oldest petroglyphs found in America are the Coso Petroglyphs, found above the China Lake basin in California, dating back sixteen thousand years.

6. A new study based on carbon content in stalagmites suggests that the Native American population in pre- Columbian America may have numbered over 100 million. That's more people than were living in Europe at that time.

7. For more about Indian legends associated with Yellowstone, check out Storytelling in Yellowstone: Horse and Buggy Tour Guides by Lee H. Whittlesey and Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies by Ella E. Clark.

8. The disappearance of the Anasazi continues to provoke great interest and speculation. One of the newest theories is that the Anasazi discovered a new faith, and this resulted in a religious war that wiped them out. Also, it is said that the eruptions that raised the Sunset Crater also had a huge impact on their ultimate fate.

Founding Fathers. We talked about Chief Canasatego as the lost Founding Father. Now let's look at those who were not lost.

1. Thomas Jefferson was a scientist, statesman, inventor, and politician. He was unique in that he also wanted better relations with the indigenous population in America. His interest was such that he built a huge collection of Native American artifacts that he kept at Monticello. Most of it mysteriously vanished after he died, including a decorated buffalo hide (and yes, Meriwether Lewis died on a buffalo-skin robe). Jefferson also did indeed send a secret letter to Congress to admit that a major purpose of the Lewis and Clark expedition was to spy on the Indians. And yes, he did help found the mint with his friend David Rittenhouse. And he was very fond of secret codes and ciphers, inventing several himself, including a code he used with Meriwether Lewis. And like Native Americans of the time, he had a profound interest in fossils.